


A Queendom Crumbles

by whovian247



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alya Bashing, Depressed Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Hurt Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, I do not like most of that class and it shows, Lila Rossi exposed, Lila bashing, Lila can catch these hands, Miraculous salt, Other, Rose Bashing, Salt, Swearing, adrien bashing, alix bashing, class bashing, especially the teacher, ivan bashing, literally all of them can fight me, ml salt, ml salt fic, mylene bashing, nathaniel bashing, nino bashing, you can depend on me to make them face consequences for their fucking actions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2020-08-14 03:36:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20185609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whovian247/pseuds/whovian247
Summary: Lila claims to be great friends with Jagged Stone, so she finds it justifiable to claim that she created his iconic Eiffel Tower glasses and designed his album cover.  Since her classmates love Jagged Stone, it would only increase her own popularity, right?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just another idea I had a while ago. I leave the ending up to imagination, but if anyone has a clear idea on how they would continue this, let me know and I'll consider adding it on. I don't know if someone's already done this, if so tell me. Constructive criticism welcome, but that means you have to provide some suggestion to improve my writing. Simply insulting it is not constructive criticism.
> 
> Edit* so a bunch of a people want me to continue this so as of right now I believe I will!

“Did you guys know I’m the one who designed those glasses for him?” Time seemed to slow down. The excited chatter from the students of Miss Bustier’s class come to a complete halt. The drastic change in volume causes more than a few other students in the courtyard to curiously look over towards the large group surrounding the infamous Lila. After spotting the tense postures of quite a few of the students there, the curious onlookers chose to mind their business.

“W-what?” the timid voice of Mylene could be heard throughout the courtyard. Very aware of the change in atmosphere, but writing it off as a possibility for more people to hear her claims, Lila continues even louder,

“Considering Jagged Stone and I know each other so well, he asked me to make a pair of glasses for his Paris concert that really captured his sense of style. I did pretty well, right?” Ending her claim with a shy look towards the ground and tucking of a stray piece of hair behind her ear, Lila glances expectantly at her peers. Surprised at the lack of praise but undeterred, she goes in for the kill. “In fact, he loved my design so much, he asked me to design the cover of his last album.”

Staring at Lila with wide eyes, Max drops his pen in shock. The sound echoes. He is the first. Finally realizing something is not quite right with the atmosphere surrounding her, Lila barely has time to process her peer’s peculiar reactions when Alix begins to mutter. Even with the deafening silence surrounding them, only those directly next to Alix can hear what she is saying. Eventually though, her voice raises.

“my god oh my god oh my god oh my god…” Alix puts her hands over her ears before crouching to the ground. She is the second. Kim’s eyes nervously flicker between his shaking friend and Lila’s curious stare.

“I mean,” Lila begins “it shouldn’t be that surprising. We are close friends after al- “She is cut off by a choked sob. Rose is the third.

“What have we done.” A whisper. Heads turn towards the source finding Nathanael covering his mouth. The fourth. Soon there are five, six, seven, eight. Slowly, others begin to realize the severity of the situation, because if Lila was able to claim that with a straight face, so flawlessly, how many other stories of hers are just as fraudulent? Lila irritation becomes palpable when she speaks one more time.

“Honestly, what’s wro- “she is cut off again.

“You’ve been lying to us, haven’t you?” Lila’s head whips around to face Juleka, a look of irritation marring her features before replacing it with “shock” and tears welling up in said story-teller’s eyes. A sharp intake of breath from the accused and a hand on her chest, Lila lets a tear slip out of her right eye.

“Juleka, how could you say that to me? You all know I would never lie to you!” Surprisingly, nobody goes to comfort her. Lila manages to hide her shock at this before making eye contact with the students closest to Juleka. All three of them look away. She turns towards Alya, seeking solidarity from the one person who blindly believed whatever she said. Alya’s eyes are frozen open, a single tear falls from her left eye, slowly trailing down the length of her cheek. Lila begins to internally panic. What did she say that had them all so stunned? Ivan speaks up.

“Lila, answer Juleka. Have you been lying to us?” Holding a shaking Mylene, his voice holding no room for argument, his glare more frightening than ever before. Lila does not answer, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. She’s so confused. She can not fix the slip up if she does not know what she said wrong. Frantically searching the eyes of everyone around her for a sliver of sympathy, she finds none. For the first time in years, Lila has no idea what to say, so she begins to panic.


	2. Alya

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya's POV moments before the last chapter took place

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you @Brittsarts @csad @SilverWolf @5AMMoN and 'Anon cause I don't care' for the ideas and advice. Even if I did not use an idea one of you gave me in this chapter does not mean I won't ever use it, but even then I still appreciate the suggestions.

The Monday morning after the Jagged Stone concert, Alya walks into school with a bounce in her step. Her and Nino had gotten amazing seats! They were right next to the stage, and Alya had even managed to snag a video of Jagged singing the song he dedicated to Ladybug! She posted it to the Ladyblog last night and was already receiving so many positive reviews from the blog users, nothing could dampen her mood.

Spotting her classmates in the courtyard, Alya’s careful not to slip in the few remaining puddles from the early morning rain as she headed over to the large group surrounding her boyfriend. She realizes he is showing off his pictures from the previous night, and everybody wants to get a look. Alya knows for a fact that some of her classmates shoving each other out of the way had been at the concert last night as well, but she also knows none of them had been half as close to the front row as her and Nino. Deciding to let the group finish fawning over Nino’s shots from the concert before revealing her own recordings, Alya crosses her arms and leans against the slightly damp brick wall behind her.

Already having compared photos with Nino directly following the concert, Alya does not need to see the photos to know which ones Nino is vividly explaining. Allowing her eyes to wander around the courtyard, Alya catches sight of one Marinette Dupain-Cheng climbing the stairs to their classroom. A frown etches its way onto the Parisian girl’s face. She could not see how she had ever been friends with such a bully. That girl had been nothing but mean to the newer student Lila ever since she transferred to their school, and all because of her jealousy over Adrien! At first Alya thought that if she tried hard enough, Marinette would eventually let go of her jealousy and become friends with Lila. They were both such cool people, Alya was sure the two would hit it off if Marinette just gave the new girl a chance. That naïve hope was squashed when Lila declared Marinette had been bullying her for weeks; even threatening her in the bathroom the first week Lila came back from Achu!

Alya almost didn’t believe it, but Alya knows Lila, and that girl could not bear lying to her friends, and Marinette was prone to becoming… aggressive, with anything to do with Adrien. Alya, along with the rest of the class had been appalled by Marinette’s actions, and knew they needed to do something about their class president. The girls made a group chat without both Marinette and Lila, the poor girl shouldn’t be forced to relive any of the trauma Marinette caused, to talk about how they should deal with Marinette. They decided to talk with her and attempt to change her mind one last time, but if she continued to be so mean to Lila, they would have to stop being friends with the girl.

The day came where the girls of the class were to confront Marinette about her behavior, and they cornered her after classes at the end of the day. After attempting to reason with her, Marinette had been fuming in anger. Alya had never seen the girl so mad before. With a red face and steam practically coming out of her ears, Marinette had started screaming at them about “friendship” and how they should have “had her back”, but all Alya heard were excuses. That girl seriously wanted them to believe bullying was the right was to go about dealing with jealousy. That had been a wake-up call for Alya. She obviously had not known Marinette as well as she’d originally thought.

When the girls attempted to calmly explain why the way Marinette was acting was wrong, Marinette had shoved past Alix and angrily stomped down the stairs. That had been a few months ago, and it was the last time any of the class had spoken to the half-Chinese girl. After that experience, everyone in their class was rightfully furious at her, and decided she needed to be taught a lesson. So, they came up with a plan. Lila was traumatized, so it was only fair Marinette suffered as well. Even Adrien, resident Sunshine child, had agreed with them, albeit reluctantly. He was so sweet, even after everything Marinette had done to poor Lila, he still wanted to give their old friend a chance. In the end though, he even helped distract Marinette for long enough so they could initiate the plan.

-Flashback-

Marinette rushed into the classroom, red-faced and panting heavily. She was obviously out of breath, probably having sprinted to school, as usual. Hands spread out to her sides, one hand on the doorframe and the other on the door handle from rushing to open the classroom door, Marinette’s eyes frantically searching the premises for something obviously important to her. Taking one more deep breath, Marinette begins to ask

“Has anyone seen my- “She abruptly stops, eyes trained on her desk in the back. The room is dead silent, Alya could hear the small gasp Marinette let out. While watching Marinette, Alya sees Adrien shrink in on himself from the corner of her eye but pays it no attention. He shouldn’t feel guilty for something that Marinette brought upon herself. Marinette’s shoes squeaked against the tiles as she slowly ascended towards her desk, eyes unblinking. Just as Marinette reached Kim and Alix’s desks, Kim stuck his foot out to trip her. This part of the plan was simple. Considering Marinette is so clumsy, her tripping could easily be written off as her own fault. At least, that’s what should have happened.

Marinette’s whole body seemed to pause, as if Lady Wifi had attacked her with her pausing ability. Slowly, she removed her eyes from her desk to look down at Kim’s shoe, before training her glare on him. They maintained eye contact for a good thirty seconds before Kim looked away, shifting uncomfortably. Still, Marinette refused to move, continuing to glare at her athletic classmate. Alya timed it, she stood there for five minutes and fifty-eight seconds, just glaring at the boy. Except, according to Kim afterwards, it wasn’t a glare. She just stared at him. What made him so uncomfortable was not her anger, it was her lack thereof. There had been absolutely no emotion in her eyes. He said it was unsettling.

After the stare-off with Kim, Marinette finally turned back towards her own desk, and stood before her seat just, looking. No anger, no accusations as they had expected. Only an empty air surrounding her. Eventually the uneasy feeling she had left with Kim began to extend to the rest of the class. Was it just Alya, or had the room gotten a bit warmer? She tugged at her collar, hoping to rid herself of the trapped feeling. Uneasy eyes met uneasy eyes from across the classroom. This was not going as they had planned. Marinette was supposed to be mad. She was supposed to scream or cry or something, anything. Instead, she did nothing.

You could see half the students tense and the other half jump out of their skins when Marinette’s backpack dropped to the floor. Usually such an action wouldn’t cause much noise, but in the silent classroom, it might as well have been a gunshot. Mylene squeaked before quickly slapping her hands over her mouth. Marinette did not appear to notice the change in her classmates. In fact, she did not appear to be aware of anything at all. As if on autopilot, Marinette slid into her seat and slowly clasped her hands together on her desk, all without looking away from her torn apart sketchbook on top of her desk. The silence was oppressive.

-Flashback End-

Alya felt a twinge of guilt from that day, Marinette has not spoken a word to anybody in their class since then, but quickly shook those thoughts from her head. She was having such a great day before this too! She fixes a quick glare at her former friend for ruining her mood before turning back towards the group. No use fretting over the past when she could be focusing on her boyfriend’s excited form right in front of her. Alya tilted her head to the side a bit with a fond look in her eyes directed entirely at Nino, all thoughts of Marinette replaced by the scene in front of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have decided to do different character's points of view, I'm not sure if I'll set any of them during the moment Lila exposes herself, but you'll probably get Marinette's view during the time they cornered her.


	3. Nathaniel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wassup yall. Ive had writers block for a phat minute, and school just started so I've been distracted. Thanks to WinterPheonix for being beta. As always leave comments, constructive criticism welcome, don't be an asshole. I may not have responded to every comment but know that appreciate you!!!

Nathaniel was having an… interesting morning, to say the least. Last night while creating a new comic series about all the amazing things Lila had done, he looked up her adventures online to see if he could find any images of Lila during her heroic acts to use as inspiration.

However, the more he’d researched; the more doubt began to seep its way into his mind. He couldn’t find anything, nothing at all. It was troubling, especially considering he already fired Marc. If Lila’s stories were false… no. He wouldn’t go that route yet. All he needed to do was talk to her and figure out what was going on. With that in mind, Nathaniel climbed the steps to the school.

Approaching the open doors, Nathaniel spotted a group of his classmates surrounding someone. Upon walking closer he realizes the person in the center of attention was Nino, with their classmates all surrounding him. Nathaniel found this sight peculiar, for Nino never seemed to be the one who sought attention from the masses, but spotting the phone he was holding up, Nathaniel remembered Alya’s bragging from Friday about how she managed to snag two up-close tickets to Jagged Stone’s concert the other night. What day was it on? Saturday? Yesterday? Nathaniel couldn’t recall but brushed the question aside in favor of moving closer to appreciate the somewhat blurry photos of his favorite musician.

Joining the crowd, Nathaniel spots the girl he was looking for, and frowned. She almost looks… angry? Why would that be? The suspicion grew in his mind, no matter how hard he tried to shove it down again. Lila was supposed to be a nice girl. He shook his head. She could just be having a bad morning. As much as he told himself that was a possibility, his suspicion would not go away.

Deciding to confront her now during one of the rare moments she was not the center of attention, Nathaniel began to push his way through the growing circle of classmates surrounding Nino. Looking away for a moment to softly apologize for shoving Rose, Nathaniel once again let his eyes fall upon Lila, who is looking at Nino’s phone with, is that a smirk?

As fast as the expression came, it disappears. It was probably just a trick of the light, he reasons. The thought didn’t help though. In fact, his sense of foreboding is only getting worse. Just as he is about to reach the Italian girl, she moves to the center of the crowd, and the center of attention.

“Did you guys know I’m the one who designed those glasses for him?” He froze. No. He must have heard her wrong, there’s no way she-

“W-what?” His trail of thought is interrupted by Mylene’s small voice from the other side of the circle. Nathaniel could do nothing but watch everything unfold in front of him. Lila responds, ducking her head sheepishly as she speaks.

“Considering Jagged Stone and I know each other so well, he asked me to make a pair of glasses for his Paris concert that really captured his sense of style. I thought I did pretty well, right?” Her shy, timid act seems too fake. She’s… manipulating them.

Nathaniel draws characters acting the same exact way all the time. Manipulative, cunning, evil, and often times hidden in plain sight. Nathaniel is shocked he did not notice before this very moment. How could he have been so blind to what was going on right in front of him all these months! Vaguely, he hears the sound of a pen dropping, but pays it no attention in favor of sorting the jumbled mess of his thoughts.

How could she do this to them? Lie so easily to all of them. Everyone knows it was Marinette- oh. Oh. His thoughts are cut off from the thought of Marinette. Amazing, kind, beautiful Marinette, who had constantly been trying to out Lila as a liar. Marinette, who did everything for her friends. The one person they should have trusted above anyone else. Marinette knew all along, and spent weeks attempting to help them, help her friends who she trusted to listen to her and to realize the lies as well. And they returned the favor by tearing apart her prized possession. Nathaniel's hand raised to his mouth. He felt as if he were going to be sick.

“What have we done.”


	4. Adrien Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been super busy so I haven't had many chances to write, and originally I wanted to make this longer but I just do not have the motivation to finish this chapter yet, so I've decided to post this as it is. If there are any spelling/ grammatical errors lmk because I didn't have anyone beta it. I just wanted to post something for you guys because I know how it feels to be waiting for a fic to update lol. Part two to this chapter will come... soon(?) Hope you enjoy.

Adrien had never meant for things to turn out like this. The other day, after another class filled with glares and sneers directed at one Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Adrien stood outside of his homeroom classroom’s door waiting for Marinette to come out so he could talk to her. He was worried that after a day filled with Lila’s lies, she would keep her promise not to expose the liar.

After a few minutes, he wondered what was taking his friend so long, and pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against to walk into the room, opting to just talk with her there. At least, that was the plan, until the door was open a crack and he heard yelling. He froze up. Pushing against the door a bit more to see all the way to the back where the argument seemed to be stemming from, Adrien lent forward cautiously until he saw most of the girls from their class surrounding the girl he was looking for.

Everyone was talking at once. Alya could be seen waving her arms around, gesturing to Marinette, then outside, then seemingly everywhere at once. Alix was pointing and yelling, a glare residing on her usually relaxed face. Rose was crying, and Juleka was standing next to Rose, shaking her head in disappointment and supposedly murmuring about who knows what. Mylene was wearing a frown, talking just as fast as her classmate counterparts. Marinette looked completely overwhelmed, and Adrien felt bad for her, debating to himself if he should step in or not.

Before he could decide, Alya regained control of her hands, and raised one above her head to signal the other girls who immediately stopped talking, leading Adrien to believe she was the one who organized this confrontation. A frown makes its way onto his face, and he felt a flare of annoyance at the girl. How could Alya do this to someone she claimed to be friends with. First, she would not even listen to what Marinette had to say about Lila, and then communicating with her for the first time in days only to yell at her supposed friend. It reminded Adrien of his Father.

Shaking his head slightly to rid himself of those thoughts, Adrien refocused on the conversation in front of him, if it could even be called that. It seemed pretty one sided. Adrien was again reminded of his father.

“Girl you need to apologize to Lila immediately. Bullying? Threatening? This isn’t like you. It’s time to get over your jealousy and realize the two of you could be really good friends if you just gave her a chance!” Alya began to wave her hands again, probably to emphasize how strongly she felt about it, but all it did was make her appear more aggressive. At least, in Adrien’s unbiased opinion.

“You’re right, Alya.” For a second, Alya looked surprised, and then relieved. Even Adrien’s eyes widened at the declaration from Marinette, but then she continued. “Bullying and threatening doesn’t sound like me. That’s because it’s not something I’ve ever done before, nor something I would ever do.” Alya’s stance became slumped, and without having to see her face Adrien knew she was no longer even considering a word Marinette said. “Does friendship mean nothing to all of you? You should have had my back when Lila returned, but instead you all believed the new girl over someone who should have earned your trust by now. After everything I’ve done for my friends, for you guys.” Marinette shifted to look each person in the eye as she spoke, allowing Adrien to see her red face, and noticed how close to tears she looked.

Adrien followed Marinette’s eyes as they contacted each one of her classmates, and only Mylene and Juleka looked as if Marinette’s words were getting through to them. Alix still looked angry, and Rose just cried harder. Adrien hadn’t been able to see Alya’s face anyways because of where she was standing, but now her head was hanging removing any chance he’d originally had at catching some of her expressions. Just based on her stance though, he could tell she was not hanging her head in shame. As Marinette stopped talking, she kept shifting her glance between all of them, her eyes pleading for someone to just listen. Adrien did not notice until she rose her head, but Alya’s fists were clenched and began to shake.

“How can you just stand there and pretend you did nothing wrong!” Alya started out quiet, but her voice rose with each word that came out of her mouth. She slammed her hand on the desk next to her, and everyone, including Adrien, jumped. “You can’t honestly expect us to believe you after everything that has happened!” Adrien’s heart clenched. He had never seen Marinette look so defeated before and was yet again reminded of every conversation with his father. He hated it.

“But you can believe Lila.” It was so quiet a response Adrien had to strain his ears to hear it. Nobody responded. Alya and Marinette stood still, looking at each other for a few seconds before Marinette’s lip quivered and she rushed down the stairs, accidentally knocking into Alix on her way down. Adrien realized he was about to be caught and quickly backs away, flattening himself against the wall yet again. Not a second later does the door slam open and a very distressed Marinette rushed past him, seemingly without spotting his still form.

Adrien decided it better to leave Marinette be for the moment and talk with her the next day during lunch. Nodding his head in satisfaction with his plan, he stepped away from the wall and head towards the staircase further away to avoid running into anyone exiting his homeroom. If Adrien had waited outside of Ms. Bustier’s classroom a little longer, he would have been able to hear the plot his female classmates began forming after Marinette’s exit.


	5. Adrien Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's part two. I should be able to update more within the next week because of break, but we'll see. I've been working on a bunch of different chapters, and after this it will be time moving forwards. You'll see reactions and the l i k e.  
Constructive criticism welcome, just don't be a jerk. I'm always open to other people's ideas so please tell me them. Hope you enjoy!

Adrien arrives at school about an hour before it ends. Yesterday, when forming his plan to talk to Marinette, the blonde forgot to consider the morning photo shoot booked for most of him morning and part of his afternoon. The photo shoot was only supposed to take a few hours, but he kept fidgeting in ways that the already picky photographer believed to ruin the photos, and that the situation could only be rectified by re-doing the photos. It was agony. The only reason he had fidgeted was because he was nervous about Marinette deciding to expose Lila after yesterday’s confrontation, so he was eager to leave. Unfortunately, this eagerness was what prevented him from being able to play his role as peacekeeper.

Adrien walks into class tense, expecting the worst. As he gauges the atmosphere, finds it free of any hostility, and feels his shoulders loosen at the realization that he still has time to rectify the situation. A sudden sense of optimism washing over Adrien, he has to refrain himself from skipping to his seat.

When the bell rings signaling the end of the day, Adrien tells Nino to leave without him and lags on purpose to catch Marinette before she left. Adrien needed the excuse of packing his things to stay and talk to Marinette without anybody becoming suspicious that the two of them were still friends. They are, of course, Adrien assures himself. Unfortunately, Adrien can do so much more to help her if he is in the good graces of the rest of their friends.

In the back of his head though, a small voice whispers to Adrien that he would not be able to deal with losing the only friends he has, and that giving up his friendship with Marinette may be inevitable.

He shakes the thought from his head just as he hears the small pitter patter of Marinette’s flats making contact with the stairs behind him. Adrien knows that Marinette stays behind after class to avoid the crowd of people leaving as to not be chastised by any of their friends. He had been counting on her following that routine and is glad his assumption was correct.

Adrien lets out a soft whisper just as Marinette passes by him, but she does not stop. She must not have heard him, Adrien reasons. He whispers her name, this time a bit louder, and the soft sound of Marinette walking ceases. Adrien shifts his body to the right to see her in the corner of his eye. She has not turned to face him, but Adrien knows that she is not ignoring him. He fiddles with the zipper of his backpack to appear occupied to the few students who may pass by the windows of their classroom.

“I saw what happened yesterday.” Adrien clears his throat, “After class, I mean.” Marinette’s shoulders tense and he hears a sharp intake of breath. Adrien waits for a response, but she remains frozen. Adrien decides that her lack of response is her way of communicating that she wants him to continue. He opens his mouth to speak again, but at that exact moment Adrien feels his phone vibrate in his back pocket. Knowing that it is Gorilla inquiring about his whereabouts, he does not bother pulling the phone out, know aware of how limited their time now is.

Marinette has yet to say anything.

“I just wanted to make sure that yesterday doesn’t change anything.” Adrien says, words sounding rushed even to himself. “I know that the tensions between you and the class have risen within the past few weeks, but I just wanted to make sure that, regardless, you would keep your promise of not exposing Lila.” Adrien hoped that Marinette caught everything he said, because his phone had started its incessant vibrations when he was in the middle of speaking.

Adrien slings his backpack over one shoulder, and without turning around, begins to walk out of the classroom. “I’ll see you later Marinette, glad we could talk.” Adrien pulls his phone out and slides his thumb across the screen. Putting the phone up to his ear he says, “I’m just coming out, I dropped some papers and had to take extra time packing up.” Adrien exits the school and waves to the sleek black car parked out front. It is not until he is seated and they’re driving away that Adrien realizes he never saw Marinette’s reaction to what he said.

***

Adrien walks into school with the distinct lack of foreboding that he usually has, and is ecstatic to know that the day will be without event. After his and Marinette’s talk, he is feeling confident that tensions would begin to cool down and that everything would go back to normal. With a small upturn to his lips, Adrien opens the door to his classroom.

All thoughts of normalcy are thrown out the window as he catches sight of the notebook in Alya’s hands. Marinette’s sketchbook, to be exact. They all know what her sketchbook looks like, she never travels without it. That and her clutch. Ice filled his veins as a few of the people surrounding Alya catch sight of him, and his jaw goes slack as one of them gives him a polite smile. Alya turns to Adrien as well, noticing the shift in focus from her surrounding peers, and she turns to face him, book in one hand a ripped-out page in another.

Alya beams at him, waving the hand with the ripped page in greeting. His eyes follow it, shifting back and forth as it flaps in response to the sudden movement.

“Hey, Adrien!” Alya said, no regret detectable in her voice.

“Wha- what is… What’s going on here?” Adrien says, voice shaking. Alya’s face lights up even more at his question, and Adrien can feel the bile creeping up his throat.

“The whole story is a bit long, but in short, after all of the bullying Lila has received from Marinette, we all decided she needs to be given a taste of her own medicine.” Alya says, frowning when she mentions the bullying before the smile returns by the end of her sentence. Adrien does not know what to say. This was not supposed to happen, nothing bad was supposed to happen. Alya turns back to the group surrounding her before once again whipping around to face to blonde. The page still in her hand makes a sound as it is pulled through the air yet again.

“Oh! Adrien, I almost forgot.” Alya says while Adrien grows tense. What else could she have left to say. “I wanted to thank you for yesterday.” This draws Adrien out of his frozen stupor as his brows furrow. He has no idea what she is talking about. “Without you stopping Marinette after class yesterday, I never would have been able to sneak into her locker and taken this, so you were a big help.” Adrien feels the ice creep back into his veins as his face shifts into shock. Alya had already turned back around and missed his drastic change in posture. She had seen him yesterday. She had seen him talking to the girl everybody hates. What does this mean for his reputation? She did not seem mad at him, and even said thank you, so he determines that he is safe for another day.

After Adrien’s brain deals with the freak-out that came with being seen yesterday, the reality of his situation comes crashing down, and his face crumbles into one of horror. The book. Marinette’s book, her prized possession. Months’ worth of work, being torn up in front of his very eyes.

And it is partially his fault.

Now on autopilot, Adrien turns away from his friends and shuffles to his desk, unfocused eyes facing forwards. This is a nightmare. There is no way any of this is real. Adrien hears laughter behind him paired with the sound of paper being torn, but it does not process. He sets his bag onto the ground as he sits down, and the sounds fade into nothing. Adrien is unsure how long he sits there, frozen. He vaguely hears the bell ring and the sounds of shoes scuffing the ground as people shuffle to their seats, but Adrien is only shaken from his stupor by the startling sound of the classroom’s door slamming open and the sight of one Marinette Dupain-Cheng stumbling into the room.


	6. Ivan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hahahaa what's good broskees? Sooooo I know I said I'd do more over break but uhhhhhhhh nope. That didn't happen. I honestly just had no inspiration for the multiple chapters I have in the works. But it be that way sometimes. A few recent comments and some spared time as school started again has gotten me back into the mindset of doing this, so hopefully I'll update again soon, but i won't make promises. This was originally intended to be a one shot so I'm taking this chapter by chapter. I appreciate the concern some people showed me and am forever grateful for all of the comments and kudos people give. I would like to say that I absolutely appreciate constructive criticism and any ideas people have for the future of this story. Please don't be a jerk though. Not that anybody has been mean yet, I would just like to make it clear. I seriously appreciate how well people have received this fic and I love hearing your thoughts on it. I hope you enjoy! 
> 
> also lmk if I made any typos or grammatical errors or whatever

Ivan’s world came to a screeching halt. Ever since Lila showed up, he had not cared about anything she said, only paying attention when Mylene retold her stories. He had never given much thought to the new girl or what was going on around him unless Mylene was involved. He was, however, aware of how Marinette seemed to dislike the new girl. At first, Ivan wanted to get involved. He really did, because Marinette helped him get together with Mylene, and he never forgot that. He knew, deep down, that she was a genuinely nice person, and to see her become so riled up about Lila, well, he started to have some suspicions about their new Italian classmate. But, Mylene seemed to love the new girl and believe her, along with apparently the rest of the class, so who was he to judge. He had never been a big presence in the social circle anyways.

One thing he knew for certain though, was that Marinette Dupain-Cheng had designed his favorite singer, Jagged Stone’s iconic Eiffel Tower glasses, leading to the Rock-star hiring her to design his album cover as well. 

Ivan was there the day Marinette made the glasses. Saw her sprinting into the hotel with the super cool looking shades. He may not pay attention to most of his surroundings, but when he does, his memory is near perfect. That was how he recognized the glasses Marinette had been holding on Jagged’s face at his next concert. He also heard about Marinette’s accomplishment from Mylene after the concert because Alya was bragging about it to anyone and everyone who would listen. The whole school knew about it, except apparently, new kids.

For once, Ivan had been listening to the conversation happening in front of him, because it was about Jagged Stone’s concert last night. It had been one of the few he couldn’t snag tickets for. He had been disappointed, but Nino’s mediocre photos somewhat made up for it. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on who was asked, this lack of attendance the night before allowed Ivan to hear Lila’s bold declaration. To say people were shocked was an understatement. The silence that followed was deafening, but the worst part, was that she continued talking. Her posture appeared to solidify what she said as truthful, but her words screamed lies. What really set him off though, was not the inaudible muttering coming from Alix, or even his realization that Marinette had been right all along. It was feeling Mylene begin to shake in his arms. The idea that this manipulative bitch had been lying to the love of his life, stringing her along like a sheep, was the last straw. His girlfriend was an amazing person. She saw the best in people, constantly going out of her way to be nice, and Lila Rossi took advantage of that. So, for the first time in a very, very long time, Ivan spoke up.

“Lila, answer Juleka. Have you been lying to us?” Ivan made sure his voice held no room for argument, and he could tell that Lila noticed. She had been crying before, something about being surprised by Juleka’s question. He honestly could not care less about the bullshit spewing from her gaping mouth at this point. She had been lying, but he had a feeling some people needed to hear it from Lila herself to truly get it through their abnormally thick skulls. He chanced a glance at Alya.

Placing his attention back on the brunette in front of him, Ivan noticed the shift in Lila’s demeanor almost instantly. The ring finger on her right hand twitched while her entire left hand began to shake slightly before coming to a complete stop. Subtle enough that it was easy to miss, but after years of constantly listening to loud music, forcing him to rely on his eyes for taking in his surroundings, Ivan had become accustomed to noticing visual cues significantly better than the average person. Even out of context, Ivan would have been able to tell that Lila had begun to panic. It wasn’t just her hands either. People say eyes are the windows to the soul, and if he could see their eyes, Ivan could read people like an open book. Lila’s eyes were wide, pupils blown open in panic. She came to her senses remarkably quick, but the fact remained that Ivan had seen her slip up. He had to take a deep breath to control his anger. Oh, this girl was so dead.

After about a minute of silence from Lila, a minute filled with Alix’s mutterings in the background, and most importantly, a minute of Mylene shaking against his much larger form, Ivan decided to try another angle to guide the confrontation.

“You want to know how you fucked up, Lila?” Ivan’s question brought all the attention back onto him, and he felt Mylene lean into him more at the obvious increase of eyes on them. Ivan tightened his hold on her without breaking eye contact with his Italian classmate. She looked at him with tears falling from her eyes, but he was more focused on her expression than he was the glistening water trailing her cheeks. He had a theory, and his next statement may just prove it. “We all personally know who made Jagged Stone’s iconic glasses. We were all present when they were made and watched her fail the first time before inevitably getting it right.” Ivan was so focused on Lila’s expression changes that he almost forgot Mylene was in his arms. At least, until he felt her tense at his words. “We all know you’re lying because the person who made those glasses was Marinette.” There. Ivan has dealt with anger issues his whole life, so he knows what signs to look for, and the second he said Marinette’s name Lila’s expression stayed the same, but her eyes flashed dangerously. Ivan wasn’t the only one to notice if Nathaniel’s sharp intake of breath was anything to go by.

Lila started wailing, but unlike in the past, no one made any move to comfort her.

“She- she must have sto-stolen the idea from m-me.” If Ivan did not know for sure that Lila was grasping at straws, he would have believed her stuttering and hiccupping between words were a result of her true emotions, but he knew better. 

Everyone surrounding him seemed to be going through various forms of panic, but he continued. This conversation was something they needed to hear, and as their only rationally thinking classmate at that moment, it was his duty to make sure they did.

“According to yourself, your mom hadn’t been stationed in Paris yet so Marinette would have absolutely no way, let alone any reason, to steal an idea from you that everyone in the class knows was something she came up with on the spot. It was career day at Chloe’s dad’s hotel. We were all there.” Lila wailed harder, but at this point her cries only solidified herself as a liar. There was no way out of this one, and it appeared she was finally coming to terms with it. 

“I-“Ivan barely let the little liar talk before interrupting her.

“Just stop. The longer you drag this out, the less anyone here will believe you. We know for a fact that what you said was false, and now that you’ve tried to place the blame on Marinette even the denser people in this group have begun to realize the truth.” He shot another look towards Alya. The blogger was looking straight ahead, almost as if in a trance, but Ivan didn’t have the time to worry about her wellbeing, he had a liar to berate. He knew he had to drive the point home, or the true issue with their situation would never be addressed again. “Marinette was right, you are a liar.”

Then, to Ivan’s surprise, Lila admitted to lying. At first, he was happily surprised, but then she just, kept, talking.

“Ok, it’s true, I lied.” Ivan’s shoulders sagged a bit, before tensing up again at her next words. “I just, was so jealous of everyone who got to go to the concert last night, I wanted some way to connect myself to the conversation.” Ivan looked at her incredulously, and he heard what sounded like a disbelieving scoff come from somewhere nearby. Juleka spoke up again.

“If you were lying for the sole purpose of connecting yourself to the conversation, why would you bring Marinette up? Let alone accuse her of theft.”

Ivan was gaining a newfound respect for the his usually quiet classmate. “You- you were trying to gear the conversation towards putting Marinette in a bad light.” Juleka’s voice rose with each word that left her mouth, posture unchanged from the wary stance she held before hand. That’s… incredibly manipulative.” Juleka was staring at Lila with growing contempt on her face, eyes hard and nostrils flaring, Rose reached out and entangled her hand in Juleka’s. Said girl became less tense, but did not back down from voicing her realizations. “Ok, that’s somewhat wrong. Ivan brought Marinette up, but you immediately went to accusing her of theft. That’s what you do, isn’t it? It’s what you’ve been doing for months. Planting seeds of doubt in our minds about Marinette, small accusations of “she said this” growing into “she _did_ this, she _did_ that.” You have been turning us against her since the first time she publicly called you out.” Juleka was staring at the ground now, anger replace with horror at what had happened. Alix looked close to murder, and Lila’s facade was cracking, but only if they looked. Alya decided this was the moment she would snap out of her stupor. And Juleka had been on a roll too. Pity.

“Th- there’s no need to look so deep into this Juleka. Lila admitted to lying and Marinette is a bad person, we all kno-“Ivan sighed as Alya began to talk before she was cut off. 

“Prove it.” Alya snapped her attention to Nino, eyes widening in surprise before narrowing in anger at her own boyfriend going against her, prepared to defend her position.

“What?” said girl snapped, obviously irritated with being interrupted.

“Prove that Marinette is a bad person, without using Lila as a source. When Marinette told us her concerns about Lila, we asked her for proof on Lila being a liar but could provide none of our own that she was telling the truth. Now that it is Marinette being called a bad person, a liar if you will, then prove it.” Nino looked incredibly uncomfortable confronting his significant other about such a serious topic, so it was obviously something he felt strongly enough about to speak up. “If Marinette is such a bad person, then finding proof should be easy. Camera recordings, other people’s testimony to first-hand experiences, should be easy to gather within an hour. Unless of course, that it’s not true. Because everything Marinette has been accused of saying, doing, being, has all come from the mouth of Lila. There has never been proof provided, while Lila just proved that she was willing to go great lengths to defend a lie, purposefully putting the blame on someone else.” As Nino started talking, Alya had been tense, an aura of malice radiating off her as she steeled herself to retaliate, but by the end of his speech she had been reduced to a shell of herself. Slumped posture, defeated. It appears he had gotten through to her. 

Nino glanced around at his staring classmates, silently daring them to argue his point. He locked eyes with Ivan, who sent a slight nod in the direction of the DJ. A small acknowledgement of the huge thing he had just done. Alya was strong-willed and loyal to a fault, but there were little people she held enough respect for to actually listen to them, regardless of the evidence placed before her. Nino was, luckily, one of the few.

After a beat of silence, the bell conveniently rang, signaling the start of class. Lila took off down the hall, knowing when to retreat for the time being. Slowly, the rest of them took turns breaking off either alone or in groups towards their classroom. As he slowly led Mylene in the designated direction, Ivan suspected this was only the beginning of a very long week for Madam Bustier’s homeroom class.


	7. Nino

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's good everyone. I know I have been gone for a PHAT minute but I have had writers block so that's a thing. For everyone who has waited patiently for me to update know that I love you and would die for you and thank you for reading.
> 
> Please feel free to leave constructive criticism because I always love knowing how I can improve, and I love comments because they fill my need to be validated by strangers.  
Because I have not updated in like half a year (idk if that's actually how long but it has been a few months) I have decided to shamelessly plug my tumblr so you can ask questions if you want to.  
idk how to link it so my user is @tumbling-down-hills-and-stuff  
yea... don't ask why it's that and it's too late to change it.
> 
> anyways enjoy

Nino was straight up not having a good time. He had been ecstatic about managing to snag some (in his opinion) fantastic videos of Jagged Stone from the concert he and Alya had been to the night before. He had also been excited about showing all his photos and videos off to his classmates. As much as Nino loved his friends, they all had such incredible lives, he couldn’t help but feel jealous. His best friend was a super model, his girlfriend ran the biggest blog in Paris, and Lila was famous around the world. When Marinette and he were friends though, it was her he was jealous of the most. She was such an amazing person, to see her spiral into someone who let her negative emotions obtain the upper hand personality-wise was painful to watch, but also gave him undeniable satisfaction. To see someone so loved by everyone lose that admiration so quickly was something Nino was guiltily content to watch.

Nino hated thinking that way. He hated finding joy in other’s downfall, but there had always been a voice in the back of his head whispering those terrible thoughts into his ear. Reminding him of how highly those types of people must think of themselves, and how they deserve his ill-will towards them. It was horrible to agree with the negative thoughts, but shit, it was hard not to feel inferior when surrounded by greatness. Seeing those people become a bit more human was nice.

At least, that was how he justified his thoughts to fall asleep at night.

That was why, when every one of his classmates surrounded him that morning, Nino let himself feel a bit smug at the attention he was receiving. He had never been one of the people at the center of attention, and although he was usually fine with that, being praised occasionally never hurt. He felt as if nothing could damage his elated mood that day.

That was, until Lila stepped forward.

Nino had to suppress a scowl from forming. Of course, she would have some amazing story about her “good friend Jagged” that made everything he had been saying seem dull in comparison.

“Did you guys know I’m the one who designed those glasses for him?” 

He blinked slowly, jaw falling slack.

…What?

Despite the potential severity of the situation, Nino let hope flare in his chest. There was no way she had just said that. Said boy glanced around at his classmates, fidgeting with his fingers, searching for validation that he had not just made that up in his own fucked up mind. He was met with various expressions ranging from the appropriate shock to nervous, on-edge expressions matching his own.

“W-what?” Mylene asked, having stolen the words directly from his thoughts. That was the only validation he needed to know that what he heard was, indeed, correct. To crush any last doubts though, Lila continued.

“Considering Jagged Stone and I know each other so well, he asked me to make a pair of glasses for his Paris concert that really captured his sense of style. I did pretty well, right?” Lila said as she glanced around in what Nino could only assume was a feigned fear of rejection before she continued, unknowingly nailing closed her own coffin. “In fact, he loved my design so much, he asked me to design the cover of his last album.”

He could not believe his ears. Lila was… lying. She had just lied, and it was so flawless he almost believed her despite knowing it was not the truth.

Nino registered the faint sound of a pen falling before Alix’s usually loud voice could be heard muttering almost incoherently. Nino didn’t know what to do or say, so he kept his mouth shut, quietly lost in his own mind. He doubted he would not have been able to say anything if he wanted to. Lila began to speak again, but Nino was not paying attention to her anymore. He did not need to hear anything else coming out of that girl’s mouth.

Nino forced himself to not burst out in nervous laughter. Lila was normal. She obviously did not actually know Jagged Stone, so her being even acquainted with any other famous individual she had made past claims of knowing were beyond unlikely. He doubted her mother was even an Italian diplomat to be perfectly honest. Lila was just a normal girl who’s only quirk is acting for the purpose of manipulating those around her.

He placed a hand over his now closed mouth to stop the snort that almost escaped. Lila was just another fame seeking liar who used them to get what she wanted. Now that Nino thought about it, she had probably been using Adrien to become a model to actually become as famous as she claimed. Nino frowned at that. No matter how jealous he was of Adrien, the dude was his best friend, and to realize his best bud was being used like that was not a pleasant thought. Adrien was a nice guy; he saw the best in everybody and always gave the benefit of the doubt. With how close Adrien and Lila seemed considering how often they were together, Nino determined it would be devastating for him to find out that Lila was a liar. He’d have to tell the boy later considering he had not arrived at school yet.

Nino briefly refocused his attention on how the scene was playing out before he shifted his attention to Alya. When he locked eyes on the tear crawling toward her chin, Nino tensed. Regardless of how much he loved Al, he was never great at comforting her when she cried. It was always Marinette who… Nino’s thoughts screeched to a halt as he physically froze. All sick joy from the unfolding situation flushed out of his system in an instant. Marinette. Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Alya’s first friend when she moved to Paris. His own long-time friend turned acquaintance over the years before once again reconnecting through Alya. Marinette Dupain-Cheng who had designed Jagged Stone’s glasses and album cover. Marinette Dupain-Cheng who had been ostracized by their class for the last few months for bullying Lila. Marinette Dupain-Cheng who was the kindest fucking girl in their entire school who they _ostracized_ because _Lila_ claimed that Marinette had been bullying her. The same Lila Rossi that had just proven herself to be a manipulative liar. Lila Rossi who had been the only one to ever see or hear Marinette be mean. Marinette Dupain-Cheng who had been the only one to doubt and call out Lila on what were quite possibly incredibly obvious lies. Marinette Dupain-Cheng who had been the only one who questioned Lila, therefore being the liar’s only obstacle to successfully manipulating Adrien to make herself famous.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng whose life’s hard work they had destroyed only a few weeks prior.

Nino felt ice fill his veins. They had demolished the property of their friend to damage her future, because someone spat bullshit about the girl being a mean person. Could he even call her his friend anymore? Neither party had acted like they were in months, and friends do not go out of their way to hurt each other. Him and the rest of their class had gone out of their way to hurt her and her promising future. Nino had switched from trying not to laugh to trying not to vomit in the span of a minute. No matter how jealous he had been of Marinette, no one deserved that. Especially not from so-called friends.

Nino forced himself to prioritize the conversation transpiring before him and was surprised by how perfect of timing it was.

“Ok, it’s true, I lied.” Nino blanched. He could not believe that she would admit to it just like that. “I just, was so jealous of everyone who got to go to the concert last night, I wanted some way to connect myself to the conversation.” Nino was unable to hold in his scoff. That was bullshit if he had ever heard it. Before anyone could react to his clear showing of disbelief at her statement. The one person he never thought would speak up, did.

“If you were lying for the sole purpose of connecting yourself to the conversation, why would you bring Marinette up? Let alone accuse her of theft.” Juleka’s question contrasted with her usual inaudible voice and Nino couldn’t help but feel slightly proud that she had started to come out of her shell more, especially in such a high-tension environment. “You- you were trying to gear the conversation towards putting Marinette in a bad light.” Nino was glad to not be the only one who’s thoughts had taken that path, but also disappointed he was not the one to receive credit for sharing it to the class. He ignored that thought for the moment, it was not his time to shine. Juleka was doing so well too, he could only stare in wonder at how well she was dealing with the situation, and how clearly thought out her argument was.

“Ok, that’s somewhat wrong.” Juleka said, back-tracking, “Ivan brought Marinette up, but you immediately went to accusing her of theft. That’s what you do, isn’t it? It’s what you’ve been doing for months. Planting seeds of doubt in our minds about Marinette, small accusations of “she said this, she said that” growing into “she _did_ this, she _did_ that. You have been turning us against her since the first time she publicly called you out.” Juleka’s breath was shaking by the time she finished, and Nino could tell that she was reaching the end of her tirade. Nino could tell that Lila noticed it as well. Said girl looked scared, but he got the impression that she was biding her time to say something. Unfortunately, Alya chose that exact moment to snap out of whatever stupor she had been in.

“Th- there’s no need to look so deep into this Juleka.” Nino narrowed his eyes, a small frown adorning his normally happy features as his girlfriend began to defend Lila. He could not let her re-solidify the belief she had in said Liar. If that happened, she would never snap out of whatever spell she had put herself under. He had to do something now while she was uncertain and willing to listen to both sides. “Lila admitted to lying and Marinette is a bad person, we all kno- “.

“Prove it.” Even Nino was a bit surprised at how demanding he sounded as the words left his mouth. He had never so blatantly disagreed with Alya before, but now that he had begun, he had to continue.

“What?” Alya snapped back at him, obviously angry that he had gone against her so easily. He needed to finish this even quicker than he had assumed.

“Prove that Marinette is a bad person, without using Lila as a source. When Marinette told us her concerns about Lila, we asked her for proof on Lila being a liar but could provide none of our own that she was telling the truth. Now that it is Marinette being called a bad person, a liar if you will, then prove it.” It became increasingly harder to meet his girlfriend’s glare as he began to speak, but he would not allow himself to cave into her delusion. It would be unhealthy for her to continue her friendship with Lila. He had to do it for her. 

“If Marinette is such a bad person, then finding proof should be easy. Camera recordings, other people’s testimony to first-hand experiences, should be easy to gather within an hour. Unless of course, that it’s not true. Because everything Marinette has been accused of saying, doing, being, has all come from the mouth of Lila. There has never been proof provided, while Lila just proved that she was willing to go great lengths to defend a lie, purposefully putting the blame on someone else.” Nino said. He had been tense while talking, but as he finished he could tell he had made it through Alya’s barriers as she slumped over in defeat, or maybe shock that she had been wrong all along.

He let out a small sigh, shoulders relaxing before hardening his gaze to meet that of his classmates. He would not let any of them ruin this moment for Alya. One wrong move, just one person to defend Lila, and Alya would latch onto it like a lifeline. Then it would not only be hopeless to change her mind, but it would be the end of their relationship altogether. He made eye contact with Ivan who gave him a small nod. Nino mentally congratulated himself on the accomplishment. Ivan was hard to impress, so any thoughts of having done the wrong thing were washed from his mind.

After the two boy’s silent conversation and the tension reached its peak, the bell rang. Lila took this opportunity to sprint away, almost tripping over her own two feet in the process. She was the only one to react immediately to the screeching warning, but after a minute of continued silence, slowly, a few more groups of people dragged themselves to homeroom. 

As Nino led Alya through the door, he locked eyes with a very tired appearing Marinette Dupain-Cheng. He was the first to break the eye-contact, lowering his eyes to glare at the ground in shameful silence. He could feel the curious stare from Madame Buster his back, but she did not speak up. Nino wondered if she knew something was wrong and decided it was not her issue, or if she was just that oblivious. 

It was not until Nino sat down in his own chair that the last person managed to drag their feet in. Madam Bustier still would not speak. It took the slight click of the door closing to snap Bustier out of whatever stupor she had obviously been in. Her shaking voice permeating the thick atmosphere and Nino could not help but watch as she began that day’s lesson. Anything to distract his thoughts from the situation.

Had she always looked so pathetic?

When the class had begun to treat Marinette… less than kindly… Nino’s only reservation had been the fear of being caught, but Bustier had not noticed. At least, he had _thought_ she had not noticed anything, but he was beginning to question that belief. At that moment, Nino was positive she noticed something was off, but was not doing anything about it. For all the meditation sessions she enforced, he had assumed she genuinely cared about their mental health and that was something he admired about his teacher. Unfortunately, he had the sudden notion that maybe that was not exactly the case. What if she only cared about a lack of conflict?

Nino had been flipping his focus between Bustier and Alya, but with that thought, he narrowed his eyes to train them solely on his teacher. Analyzing her form, what he first took note of was how tense she appeared. Shoulders slightly hunched, hand shaking as she wrote on the dry-erase board, Nino came to a rage-inducing realization. She was definitely more aware of her students than she let on. Nino quietly scoffed before leaning back in his seat, arms crossed, and a disbelieving look on his face. No wonder they were able to pull so much shit on Marinette, this lady did not care one bit. The perfect enabler.

Nino told himself that being mad at his teacher would be hypocritical, but he had grown up with her as his teacher. The same case with Marinette and Chloe, and that woman had always taken Chloe’s side in any argument the two ever had. Every. Single. One. Nino has always been complacent. He’s always been someone to sit quietly and let others deal with their own issues, but after earlier that day with Lila, he’s fuming. How dare she.

Nino clenched his fists, his nails digging into the soft skin of his palms. Expression shifting from disbelief to something darker. Something much more sinister than mere anger. Madame crossed the line a long time ago, and no one had ever called her out on it. Nino thought that needed to change.

“Madame,” Nino said, “why are you so tense?” His voice was soft, any quieter and it would have been a whisper, but the sound of it reverberated throughout the room. The atmosphere was thick, but Nino’s voice cut through it like a knife. If Nino had been told less than an hour ago that he would be the one to start a confrontation with their teacher of all people, he would have laughed in that person’s face. Amazing how much things could change in such a short amount of time.

Madame Bustier ceased all movements, marker stopping mid stroke. She recovered from her slight falter, but it had happened none-the-less. Nino’s eyes were cold as she twisted to meet his gaze. Her eyes widened the smallest amount at the foreign look on the usually quiet boy’s face, and he could not blame her slight flinch. He knows how frightening his own glare is, it is why he tended not to use it. She chuckles, but anyone with half of a brain cell would know that it was forced.

“I did not realize I was tense; I apologize if it made you uneasy.” Madame said, shifting her eyes to address the whole class when apologizing. Nino did not believe it for a second and would not let her blow off a much need confrontation.

“Bullshit.” The words were out of Nino’s mouth before he could stop them, but he found himself satisfied with her scandalized expression. He even heard an intake of breath from behind him.

“Nino, that is highly inappropriate-” Madame began, but Nino interrupted her.

“Because you would know when something is inappropriate, wouldn’t you?” Nino said, feeling an immense amount of satisfaction at how much his actions must be unnerving her. Nino continued, “You would know when to step in and tell someone off for doing something inappropriate, right? Or would you, because I have a hunch that you heard the conversation, earlier with Lila, didn’t you?” If people were not paying attention before, they most certainly were now. No one had seen Nino lose his composure like this since they were just beginning school almost ten years ago. The whole day was already turning out to be a mess, and it was still their first class.

“Because my language is what matters at the moment.” Nino said, forcing down a grin at the thought of how unnerved his teacher must have been. He continued, “My language is more important than the conversation all of us had this morning, isn’t it?” his tone was light, but the implication behind them got through because he saw her tense even more. His smile dropped. He had not been aware he was even smiling to begin with. “You are a coward madame, and it is about time someone told you.” Nino said, voice even. He had an unhealthy amount of pent up rage already, but he could not find the will to stop. She deserved this.

“Nino,” she began, voice small while staring at him with wide eyes, “what is going on with you?” Nino’s expression did not waver, eyes trained on the woman almost trembling before him. He could not help but think of how pathetic it was that she was proving his point without trying.

“Madame, do you remember how many years I have been in your class? How many years I have had to endure your disappointed looks as I was bullied relentlessly by Kim, and you told me to ‘be the better person’ or ‘be an example’, but you were never an example yourself!” Nino was crying. It had always been hard to bring up his bullying, but he needed to drive the point home. He needed her to understand how much this had affected him. Affected everybody. This confrontation was not just for his own satisfaction, it was for everyone in the classroom to understand how fucked up their classroom situation really was.

Madame’s eyes are wide as her mouth hangs open. Nino wonders why she is shocked. Did she think they were stupid? Or did she think they would just stay complacent forever? He could not comprehend her thought process. How could someone be so… pathetic? Nino knows he was not one to talk, but he was also not in a position of power. It was not his job to enforce order in a classroom. The thought made him even more angry.

“Thinking about it, you probably treated Marinette the same way, right?” Nino came to the horrifying conclusion that maybe Madame was the reason Marinette had been so complacent all those years. “It’s obvious you have known what was going on with our class, and based on the way you have dealt with bullying all of these years, I have to assume that you told Marinette the same enabling bullshit while we treated her like garbage.” Madame could only stare. Of course, that was the case. She would not know how to deal with a confrontation if her life depended on it, and by the way Nino was dealing with his emotions, it just might.

He continued, “I have to question why you became a teacher in the first place if this is the way you deal with people. Is it because you were bullied as a student?” Madame’s eyes widened, and Nino knew he hit jackpot. “That is, isn’t it? You became a teacher to have authority over they type of people who bullied you, but all you did was become one of the people who stood by and watched as you were tormented.” Nino narrowed his puffy eyes, the stream flowing down his cheeks becoming a waterfall, but he had to continue. He had to keep talking and let out the ever-building rage boiling inside of him. “That makes sense,” he scoffs, “you have actively avoided every inter-student confrontation you could.”

Nino stops for a moment, an idea coming to mind before connecting his eyes with Madame Bustier’s, his face seemed to darken. “Madame,” he begins, voice having become quiet once again, “have you ever seen Madame Cheng angry before?” Nino hears someone suck in a breath and his lips twitch up for a moment before resting into their previous scowl, the tears flowing from his eyes came to a stop. He did not wait for her response, “I am guessing you have not, considering you let Marinette be bullied for so long.” Madame Bustier seemed to finally snap out of her stupor only to narrow her eyes at Nino, but she does not open her mouth to retaliate. So, she understood the gravity of the situation. Nino was well aware of how terrifying Marinette’s mother could be, and the only reason he had not been on the receiving end of her uncontrollable wrath must have been because Marinette had not told her parents about her school life. Maybe she was sparing them. 

He almost does not want to do it because of how terrifying an experience it would be, but he also knew that it needed to be done. He continued, “I bet, if I were to inform Marinette’s mother of what has been happening to her daughter, well,” he chuckles, but the sound is empty, “if your fear of Chloe’s father stems from his influence, then you have no idea how extensive both the Dupain and Cheng families truly are. I would feel sorry for you if I did not know you deserve what is coming.” Nino lowered his head and then continued in a much softer voice, “What we all deserve.” He rose his head back up and took a deep breath before once again making eye contact with Madame Bustier. He took an immense amount of satisfaction in the fear he saw build in the eyes of his teacher. That is good, she should be scared. Madame Cheng was a force to be reckoned with.

Nino turned away from the front of the classroom, an obvious sign of dismissal towards Madame Bustier. Ignoring the faces of his peers, his eyes zero in on the pig-tailed girl in the back row who is… sleeping? Nino blinked at the unexpected scene before hi. Marinette’s back was rising in a steady fashion as her head laid between her arms. Nino blinked again, shaking his head to snap himself out of whatever illusion he was trapped in. There is no way she missed that entire conversation, and yet, there she sat, obviously knocked out cold. He cleared his throat and felt the atmosphere lighten a bit at how comedic the scenario was.

“Marinette.” He called out, voice rising at the end in question. She shifted a bit before settling back into her original position. Was this a joke? He heard someone cough at the awkwardness of it all, but he could not stop. “Marinette,” He said a bit louder. Her head shot up; eyes wide as she gave a sharp intake of breath.

“Is it 42?” She blurts out, hands flailed around her to regain her balance after shooting up so quick. Nino could not do anything other than stare. The obvious bags under her eyes painted a clear picture of the issue, and he felt bad for waking her up from what he assumes to be a much-needed nap. That was, not how he expected the conversation to go, but he continued, undeterred by the absurd scenario that played out.

“Marinette,” Nino repeats, softer as to not startle her so much. Her gaze snaps to his own, eyes hardening at the sight of it being him addressing her. He wilted, that should not have been as surprising as it was. He had been one of the people bullying her for so long, he should not have expected her to be open to talking with him. Throwing everything he had planned on saying out the window, he sighed and lowered his eyes to the ground. “I’m sorry, for how I’ve treated you these past few months, dude.” Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he lent down to grab his bag, throws it over his shoulder, and walked out of the classroom.

Nino left the room silent, but as he descended the stairs, he could not help but begin to laugh. The sound was anything but joyful as tears once again began to fall from his raw tear ducts. He brought a shaking hand up to cover his mouth, but it did not stop the shaky laughter from escaping. As he approached the Dupain-Cheng Bakery, Nino took a deep breath and resigned himself to a most deserved fate.


End file.
